Drew Barrymore Calls Aging ‘A Privilege’ in Dove Campaign

Continuing to call out unrealistic standards and harmful imagery that surrounds young girls on social media, Dove’s latest work uses these and other taglines: “When did Retinol replace face paint?” and “Is it even possible to look 10 years younger at 10?”

Girls these days are “anti-aging before they’ve even started to grow up,” according to Firdaous El Honsali, global vice president at the brand.

“When did 10-year-olds start worrying about wrinkles and getting older?” El Honsali said in a statement. “It is time to speak up to highlight the absurdity and protect their self-esteem.”

Medical professionals and others involved in the effort blame the “toxic culture” of the digital environment, pointing out the potential consequences.

“If young girls feel pressure to use skincare products containing highly active anti-aging ingredients, it could be damaging to their body confidence and self-esteem in the long term, not to mention their skin health,” Phillippa Diedrichs, professor of psychology and a leading body image expert, said in a statement.

Cool mom cred

Barrymore, who has two pre-teen daughters of her own, says in her video that she always enjoyed expressing herself through embellishments like makeup, glitter and stickers when she was growing up in front of the camera.

“But by no means did I ever wear anti-aging skincare,” she says.

The actor-entrepreneur-media mogul, whose cool mom cred may carry considerable weight with the target demo, led with her trademark positivity in saying that “we have to figure out messaging that empowers women and also lets young girls know that they have so much road ahead of them.”

And speaking directly to Gen A, Barrymore said: “You’re already beautiful—let’s be playful, let’s never fear getting older because that is a privilege.”

The new work comes on the heels of a Super Bowl commercial featuring video clips of young female athletes taking spills to the tune of “It’s a Hard-Knock Life.” Adweek chose the lighthearted but poignant spot as one of the 13 best ads of the Big Game for its subtle metaphor for how body confidence can affect girls’ participation in sports.